Lets talk about social media.

As a guy who holds 15 different social media accounts for various platforms and different reasons, I have learned some things about social media over the past few years. The main takeaway for me though is that I hate that it has become so much a part of our daily lives.

I know that I, like many of you am shocked and a little embarrassed when my phone sends me my weekly usage stats each week when I am sitting in church. Ironic timing really and it is like a message perhaps.

I am constantly witness to some of the dark sides of social media and no, I’m not going there.

There are some great aspects of social media also when it comes to connecting people or even helping businesses grow. I do wonder though, when does the bad outweigh the good? Remember that old saying in advertising that you need to see something seven times before you will make a purchase? That number is now 40-70 times according to people smarter than I, and it is accredited to our shorter attention spans and constant beat down of advertising from all angles.

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was one place to find all your local activities, advertising, job postings, real estate and all other ads pertaining to your local community? Well, I have a solution for you and it will only cost you one crinkled up dollar each week. That is if local businesses see the value of advertising in the local newspaper. It was great to see that the Central City Area Chamber of Commerce created a list of happenings for the weekend and I thought I would address why there is no mention of happenings in the newspaper this week.

The simple answer would be that none of those businesses chose to advertise with the newspaper. Why is The Good Life Center featured in this week’s edition for Volunteer Month? They were the only organization to contact the newspaper. Don’t get me wrong, we have some outstanding support from some great local businesses and organizations I just felt a need to clear those things up.

Newspaper advertising is something special, especially in the modern world. Each minute of our lives someone is attempting to draw our attention away from the task at hand. Our readers have made an investment knowing that they will receive local news and local advertising with each issue. They likely will take the time to read their investment and for a moment in time their attention will be on the newspaper. Almost brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it.

In a world of chaos and disinformation your local newspaper is also a trusted source. We continue to balance our social media interaction and content but it seems like it is becoming more difficult to find the desire to open those apps on my phone.

* Final Thoughts: Thank you to Tyson Benner and the rest of the Long-Term Board. Thank you to all who have prayed for Andrew, Whitney and the family. Go Big Red. As always, thank you for reading.